Typewriter-keyboard arrangement



Aug. y

1924. R. E. HOKE TYPEWRITER KEYBOARD ARRANGEMENT Filed June vIlllllll'lllllllllllllllllllllIlllllllllll'l Snucnloz l ffy ffke.

Patented ug. 26, 1924.l

UNTED STATE.

ROY E. HOKE, 0F BRMING- u ALABAMA..

TYPEWRITER-KEYBOARD RRANGEMENT.

Application filed June 16, 1922. Serial No. 568,792.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROY E. HOKE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Birmingham, in the countyof Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Typewriter-Keyboard Arrangement, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements inthe arrangement of the keys of a typewriter keyboard, and also to an improved method for the scientific distribution of the letters and symbols over the keyboard with the object of so disposing same that the maximum eiicien'cy may be obtained in the manipulation of the keyboard.

My invention relates more particularly to the standard typewriter and my improve- `ments in the art of scientifically distributing the letters and symbols over the keyboard are based primarily on the following co-nsiderations First, since typewriting is a matter entirely of the use of the letters of the alphabet and the various marks, it is necessary to ascertain the frequency of the occurrence of these letters and marks in the English language, and to base the distribution primarily on the conclusions reached.

Secondly, since accuracy is one of the primary requisites of good typewriting, it is important to investigate the number and distribution of errors made in actual typewriting, and 'to learn, if possible, their causes, in order that their correction and elimination may, as far as possible, be attained by the keyboard arrangement selected.

rlhird, the modern touch method of typewriting presumably makes equal demands upon all the fingers and upon the two hands, whereas, in fact, the present standard typewriter keyboard is soarranged as to assign fifteen letters to the left hand, and only eleven tothe right, and this raises the question, what are the relative abilities of the eight fingers and of the two hands, and the conclusions reached should further control thel relative arrangement of the letnipulation by either hand of the important y spacer and shift keys with the least possible movement of such hand from its normal operating position, and for definitely assigning a bank to each hand and confining it to its respective bank.

I The frequency of the occurrence of letters and mar/708 ir. the English language.

The first objective to the problem under consideration is to determine the frequency with which the various letters of the alphabet and the more common marks are used in the Englishlanguage. For this purpose valuable material was readily at hand as to the letters in the form of the Ayres spelling scale. This scale itself informs us that the 1000 words in the list are the product of co-mbining different studies with the object of identifying the 1000 commonest words in English writing, and the 1000 words selected are those that were found most frequently in approximately 368,000 words of personal letters', business letters, newspapers, theBible, and various English authors.

Accepting this list of 1000 words as the most common in the English language, it would appear that by counting the frequency with which the various letters of the alphabet appear in these words, we secure a very close approximation to their frequency in the English language in general, and in the work done on typewriters in particular.

Table No. ll' below shows in the rst column the gross number of occurrences of each letter of the alphabet in the 1000 coinmonest Words. A total of 5433 letters were found. The average length of the Words, therefore, is 5.4133 letters. B v multiplying the number of occurrences of each letter by 1.362 (the multiplier required to raise the frequency value of e, shown at T34 in the tables below, to 1000) 1 secure the second column of the table. in which e is raised to 1000, and the other letters are raised proportionately. The third column shows the percentage English Writing that is made up by each letter of the alphabet. The fourth column gives the frequency of the letters with reference to q as one. From this column it will be noted that e is used 245 times as often as q,

TABLE L-Frequeney of use of letters im the words of the Ayres spellmg scale.

Times Raised to Percent- Based on used. 1000. age. "Q."

Although the evidence thus secured for the frequencies of letters seemed almost conclusive. it was nevertheless thought desirable to support it, if possible by corroborative evidence from original studies. )Vith this purpose in view, three studies were made on the frequencies of letters and also of punctuation marks in (1) the Gospel of St. Mark, (2) representative business letters, and (3) current newspaper editorials.

A comparison of the data of these three orlginal studies with Table No. I, which gives the frequency "of letters only in' the Ayres spelling scale with the letter e" ralsed toI 1000 for purposes of comparison, will reveal much similarity both in the order or rank of the letters and in the relative frequencies of each letter in the four studies. It may justly be said that the differences in the four studies are less noticeable than the similarities. This fact may be given more definite and exact expression statistically. Reference to Table 11 below vvill show that the frequencies of letters in the Ayres scale correlate With the frequenoies found by averaging the three original studies almost perfectly. The co-eflicient of correlation is .946 and the probable error is .012. The product-moment formula was used in securing this correlation in which l assume the correlation as r and the values of :e and y appearing in the third and fourth columns of Table l1 below.

TABLE IL Oow-elatioa of the frequency of use of letters in the 1,000 words o7' the Ayres spelling scale with, their use in my three origin/al studies.

Average Ayers of three Devia- Deviascale original tions of tions of (I). studies z. y.

1000 1000 715 713 609 711 324 424 571 723 286 436 524 574 229 287 S 420 509 v 135 222 I- 498 480 213 193 N 508 456 223 169 R 591 367 306 80 H 232 458 53 171 L- 350 349 62 D 263 261 22 26 C 298 209 13 e 78 U 233 220 52 67 210 194 75 93 146 185 -139 -102 132 170 -153 -117 219 138 66 149 123 135 -162 152 154 85 -131 -202 155 si 13o 206 82 61 203 -226 49 39 -236 -248 19 22 -266 -265 18 18 -267 269 4 12 281 -275 7 9 -278 -278 Average 285 287 It is of course possible that in any one study of the frequency of let-ters the chance presence or absence of a few Words containing the less common lette-rs, such as K, J. Q, X, or Z, may appreciably influence the result. This diHiC-ulty may be obviated by combining the four studies to which pro- Cedure no objection may be raised .in View of the very high correlation which obtains. as set forth above.

Table Hl below shows the frequencies of letters and marks in the four studies made, all raised to the basis of 1000 for e, While in the fth column of the tab-le We have the average of the first four. This column is based on the counting of 12,130 letters of the alphabet in connection with the four studies. It is the findings set forth in thisV A centage relationshi 4of data given in t e frequency and er- TABLE IIL-Studies on the frequency of use of letters and punctuation marks.

TABLE IV.-Errors made in actual tupewrtng as compared with frequency of occurrence of letters.

Business Ed- Fre- Per Ayres' M ark' letters. torials. Average quency. Errors eentage,

E 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 E l 1000 1000 100. T 609 605 686 841 685 T. 685 636 92. 8 A 571 572 720 876 684 A- 684 596 87. 1 0.-..- 524 325 711 685 561 O.. 561 462 82. 4 8.-... 420 340 463 723 486 S 486 395 81. 3 I... 498 321 446 673 484 I. 484 378 78. 1 N. 508 391 557 420 469 N 469 372 79. 3 R-- 591 247 386 468 423 R--- 423 440 104. H. 232 565 411 409 402 H 402 223 55. 5 L. 350 232 420 396 349 L. 349 339 97. 1 D. 263 340 274 169 261 D 201 418 160. l. C.. 298 85 265 276 231 C- 231 283 122. 5 U" 233 137 260 263 223 U.. 223 224 100. M 210 151 214 216 198 M 198 321 162. 1 Y 146 192 205 157 175 Y. 175 246 140. 6 B 132 74 146 289 160 B. 150 07 60. 6 P 219 92 94 228 158 P.. 138 73 46. 2 W 123 137 137 132 132 W 132 84 63. 6 F- 154 85 51 120 102 F. 102 209 204. 9 G.. 154 48 86 109 99 G. 88 325 328. 2 v 82 44 69 71 66 V. 65 158 239. 4 K 49 22 34 60 41 K. 41 96 234. 1 J." 19 7 17 49 23 J.. 25 26 113. X 18 0 25 37 20 X.. 20 140 700. Q 4 4 8 24 10 Q- 10 32 320. Z 7 11 8 11 9 Z 9 20 222. 124 64 86 125 140 81 115 AV- .-287 AV- 292 Md 108. 3 I 22 12 0 11 1 41.v 0 7 16 ll have further considered whether the Table IT shows graphically the frequencies of the various letters. The fact is that the first six letters (E, T, A, 0, S, T) are used more fre uently than the remaining twenty Errors in typewriting and their causes.

After exhaustive studies of the frequency of occurrence of errors wherein the errors were found and tabulated up to the point where E was charged with one thousand errors, l have in Table TV below arranged in comparative columns the frequency of occurrence of the letters and the frequency of occurrence of errors in respect of that letter and in the finalcolumn have shown the perbetween the two series rors columns. The close parallelism between accuracy and frequency may be seen from the fact that the average frequency is 287 per letter and the average errors recorded is 292 per letter, showing how closely the' errors correspond to the frequency. Asa result my conclusion is fur-v ther confirmed that the primary factor to control the scientific distribution of the letters is their frequency, and my studies further show that the probability of error oc-y curring more frequently in one position of the keyboard than in any other position does not enter substantially into the calculations.

Relative abilities of the eight yfngers and the ynger and flu/ncl loads of the present typewriter leeg/board.

As a result of exhaustive ytapping tests for each nger of each hand conducted with a variety of subjects, l have reached certain conclusions relative to this phase of my invention.

III'. Relative abilities of the eight fingers aml the two hands forl typewriting.

For the purpose of determining the relative abilities of the eight fingers and the two hands three studies Were made. ,The first of these studies was madekr upon fifty high school girls; the second on forty-six high school boys. Tn these two studies the following method Lwas used. The subjects were instructed to hold the thumb of the right hand against the center of the type? right hand fourth linger left hand fourth finger A, each for thirty seconds. The number of taps leaving their impressions ou typewriter paper iii the regular way were counted for each of the eight fingers of each of the 96 subjects.

The purpose of holding the thumb against the metal frame of the typewriter was to eliminate, as much as possible. wrist and arm movement, for it wasv desired to test only finger abilities. It was found that by holding the thumb in this position the subject was compelled t-o make the taps b-y relying upon the ingersalone, as was desired for the purposes of the experiment. The results of these two studies are set forth in Table V below.

An inspection ofthe medians in studies 1 and 2 will show that. the eight lingers have about the same rank and relative ability for the two sexes. f

The third study was made of forty-two college girls and twelve teachers of Frederick Cvounty, Maryland. 1n this study a somewhat different method was pursued. The subjects were required to tap for thirty seconds upon their desks with each finger. Particular instructions were given as to the position to be assumed: with the wrist rest ing upon the desk (to prevent wrist movementin tapping) and with three fingers also resting with their tips upon the desk. It was found that this position effectually prevented any wrist orI arm movement being used and secured records of the'tapping abilities ofthe fingers alone.

In inspection of the medians for the eight fingers for this third ,study shows that Ithey very closely bear out the results of the irst and second studies. i

TABLE V.-Tap1ifing tests. TAPPING TESTS oN TYPEWRITER.

Left hand.

[17. The finger and ztmd loads of 71e present typewriter keyboard.

Since the foregoing studies make it possible to state in a mathematical form the relative abilities of the two hands and the fingers, and the relative values of each letter and mark, it would seem worth while first to raise the question, what is being expected of the lingers and hands by t-he present typewriter keyboard.

In accordance with the touch inethed, each of the eight fingers has its own proper keys, three for each finger except the first finger of each hand which has six. Table VI below gives for each finger the letters it strikes and their Values, and the sum ot' these. which is the finger load.

These letter values are taken from Table III. Denoting the fingers of the right hand as R1, R2, R3, and R4, and those of the left hand as L1, L2, L3, and L4, we find their loads to be, in the saine order: R1, 1490, R2 640, R3 296, L1, 1535, L2 1492, L3 658, L4 803. Adding these finger loads for each hand we get the hand loads: for the right hand 3422, for the left 4488. In lview of the fact that in Table V we found finger abilities to be not very dissimilar, it is rather startling to find that R1. L1, and L2 are each, on the present typeas much work to do as is given to R4. In

view, also, of the generally known fact that the index of right-handedness may be roughly expressed by the ration of ten to nine, that is, that the ability of the right hand is approximately one-ninth greater than that of the left, it is surprising to find that the present keyboard gives the heavier load to the weaker member.

TABLE VI.-The typewrtfing load of the eight fingers and the right and left hands for present keyboard.

RIGHT HAND.

Right hand. Fingers.

stud N. 1, 1 .484 o .561 mme() k 41 1 349 Averaga.-- 103 11s 113 115 11s 126 12e 115 as Median-.." 106 119 117 119 119 130 126 Study No. 2,

4boys:

Average... 12s 134 144 14a 15e 167 104 Medial... 127 134 145 145 15e 16e 164 640 996 296 TAPPING TESTS ON TABLE. Total for the right hand: 3422.

LEFT HAND. Btdvsiiotrgii: 3' Finger" Averge- 106 99 121 143 161 134 101 115 4MedialLn. 107 103 125 145 160' 138 104 117 1 2 2 4 The three studies above involve a total of l 1- 423 e 1000 w -152 q i0 190,410 taps, made by 150 different individf 102 d gg s 4% a 68g uals. 'It is believed that by combining these K :jjjjjjj 622 0 x sii'rIII im three studies by the method of averages, we ,gg may secure conclusions as to the relative g3g E E m abilities of the fingers and hands'which may be relied upon.

Total (or the left hand: 4488.

The question may be raised: Why are 100 strikes. recordedfor both the right and left hand shift key? This was gotten by actual count, 200 being recorded. However, whether the right hand strikes exactly half of them o r not will vary somewhat with the nature of the matter to be written. When a letter on the left side of the present keyboard is capitalized the right shift key must be struck and vice versa. inasmuch as most of the letters are on` the left side of the keyboard and many of them the more frequent in use, it is very probable that the right shift key is the more frequently used. However, the total number will remain the same and an equal division of the total 200, while not entirely exact, istas near as can be gotten. On the revised keyboard, with its equal distribution of letters ranged according to their equency, the number of times .each shift key is struck will be more nearly equal.

The several considerations which should control a scientific rearrangement of the typewriter keyboard are the following: 1. The measured abilities of the eight iingers and of the right as compared with the left hand, should be taken into consideration, and loads assigned in proportion to strength.

2. The measured frequency of use of the Iletters of the alphabet and punctuation marks must be made the basis for calculating the loads to be assigned to the several ingers.

3. ln addition to the above there are certain pedagogical considerations:

(a) Most used letters for home or guide keys, since on a keyboard so. arranged the work could be done with the lfewest possible changes of position of hands. VAlso the frequent use of these letters will aid the pupil in. the early xing of these home-key positions.

(b) The next most used letters should be assigned to those keys or positions which appear to be the favorable ones from the standpoint of accuracy.

(o vSince beginners iind it easier to use V the st lingers than the other fingers, and

since the approved method of teaching typewriting,`as well as other subjects, is that of proceeding from the easy to the more diiicult, it is desirable to so arrange the keyboard, by assigning several of the vowels to the first lingers, that simple practice words and sentences may be written by the beginner, even in the earliest stages of the learning process.

i, For purposes of the first consideration, Table VH below assembles the data from Table V, i. e., the median tapping studies of the eight fingers of the three studies, combining the three by the method of averages and showing a total of finger abilities of 1046. Table VTT also includes the present keyboard load from Table VT. Dividing the total keyboard load (7910) the sum of 3422 `and 4488 of Table VT by the sum of the finger abilities (1046) Table V, T find that each point of finger ability must be multiplied by 7.56 so as to reapportion the TABLE VIL-Comparison of finger ami hand abilitice with the loads of the ngers and Pur/nda.

Lett. Right.

Total.

Mds. for H.

S. girls. 106 119 117 119 119 180 126 117 Mds. for H.

S.boys.... 127 134 145 145 150 166 164 151 Mds. for col lege girls and teachers 107 103 125 145 100 138 104 117 Averages... 113 119 129 136 145 145 131 128 1040 Multiplymg these evs. by 7.56 to get ideal typewriting oads..- 855 900 975 1028 1097 1096 991 988 The oads on thepresent keyboard are 803 658 1492 1535 1490 640 996 296 Percentage of overor under-load of the n- 26.9 49.3 -41.6 -694 gers on 6.1 53 35.8 .5 present typewriter keyboard HANDS.

Right. Leit. Tapping ability (190,410 taps by 150 100,817 taps 89,593 taps individuals) attio: 100 to HDS BDS Presentload Ratio; 1u0to131.25

Per cent of oyeror under-load, 47.7 (over-load oi left hand.)

onds, The ratio of the ability f the right Y hand to that of the left is as 100 to 88.87, or

approximately as ten to nine. This agrees with the indingsof Bryan. (Bryan, American Journal of Psychology, 1892, v., 123- 204.) The present right and left hand loads in typewriting are 3422 taps for the right to 4488 for the left, or a ratio of 100 to 131.25. These. data show an overload of the left hand of 47.7 per cent as compared with the right hand, on the present typewrlter keyboard.

F rom the consideration of accuracy `two results might follow. llt might be found that for certain vertical rows of keys, or the fingers assigned thereto, there was greater accuracy, or that for certain horizont-al rows there was more accuracy than for others. These two possibilities are studied in Table VIH In the upper half of this table accuracy is compared with frequency of use for each of the horizontal rows of keys. In Table IV I show that with reference to the individual letters, accuracy and frequency of use were almost perfectly correlated. Table VIII, however, seems to show greatest accuracy in the upper horizontal line, with decreasing accuracy in the middle and especially in the lower lines, to an extent that is not justified by use or disuse. Since this is the case it will be well to assign the more frequently used letters, after the home ke s have been supplied, to the upper row o keys.

The second part of Table VIII, on the other hand, shows differences in accuracy of fingers, that is, of vertical rows of keys.

TABLE VIII.-The accuracy of horizontal Zines of keys on typewriter.

Upper line. Middle line. Lower line.

Pei:- R k 1 Pert- R k Pertcen an n cen an 1n cen Rank in use' age o use. age of use. age of errors. errors. errors.

320 A-.. 3 87 Z.-. 26 222 64 8.... 5 81 X..- 24 700 100 D-.. 11 160 C... 12 123 104 F-.. 19 205 V..- 21 239 93 G.-. 20 328 B... 16 61 141 H-.. 9 56 N-.. 7 79 100 J. 23 113 M.-. 14 162 a Oompartson of the rank of the ezght ngers and the hands in accuracy and in load tu typewrittng.

- Rank .aaa ,gd 40 S Right hand ..{3 2 5 4 1 1 1 6 Lenhand g 4 7 4 Right hand 108% of errors. 3422 Left hand 192% of errors. 4488 The accuracyy data is taken from Table I a TABLE IX.-The accyracy of the eight lingers' 'in typewrztmg (percentages).

RIGHT HAND.

Fingers.

Average 108 f Average for the right hand; 108.

TABLE IX.-The accuracy of the eight jinyers m tppewrt'tng (percentages)-Continued.

LEFT HAND.

Fingers.

e... 100 w.- 64 q.... 320 d... 160 s... 81 a.... 87 c... 123 x... 700 z 222 Average for the left hand: 192.

But while the accuracy of fingers seems to differ, it appears from the table that this is due to the loads assigned to the lingers and hands, rather than` to qualities of the fingers or hands themselves. For when the fingers are given their rank for accuracy and for load, I find a close correlation. The overloaded fingers tend to be more inaccurate. In the case of the two hands the evidence is even more clear. The right hand with small load has high accuracy. The left hand with heavy load has low accuracy score. The average frequency of use of letters written by the left hand on the present keyboard is 291, by the right 280. So far as the law of use goes, the left hand should be four per cent more' accurate than the right. Instead of this I find the right hand 84% more accurate than the left. This must be due to the overload of the left hand. This evidence tends to show that nearly half of the errors made by the left hand in typewriting are preventable, due to the bad apportioning of the typewriting load in the present keyboard.

A further important reason why the typewriter keyboard should be scientifically rearranged is the self-evident fact that maximum speed and ease of operation can never be attained so long as some fingers are overworked, while others do not have a chance tolcontribute their full share to the total resu t.

A rearrangement of the keyboard will, it is clear, make for improved speed and accuracy in typewriting. y

The present standardv arrangement of the typewriter keyboard antedates the touch method of operating, which has come to be the only acceptedl method in the teaching of typewriting. Therefore the considerations, if any, which suggested the present arrangement of the keyboard, do not apply, but new considerations must be brought to bear which take account of the fact that all of the fingers are to be used and should 'contribute their share, no more and no less.

In accordance with the above considerations I offer below in Table X the preferred rearrangement ofletters and marks of the typewriter keyboard, having in mind that there may be an interchange of letters having approximately similar frequency Values without materially disturbing the balance of my keyboard.

TABLE X.-Diagram III.

Finger.

L4 L3 L2 L1 R1 R2 R8` R4 Load on above keyboard 858 888 982 1031 1098 1093 996 971 Ideal 1oad......-.- 855 900 975 1028 1097 1096 991 968 Load on present keyboard 803 658 1492 1535 1490 640 996 296 The data shown below the keyboard in alignment with the rows of keys indicates the finger to which the keys above it are assigned and below t-he finger appear in three horizont-al columns the load value of the letters assigned in the above keyboard to each finger, the ideal load to be imposed on such finger and the load imposed on such finger in the present standard keyboard. Thls data very vividly portrays how greatly unbalanced the finger loads on the present keyboard are and how close to ideal is the :gnge load distribution in my improved keyoar By reference to the last column of Table III showing the average frequency of use of the various letters and punctuation marks, it will be apparent within what limits there may be substitution of one letter for another without serious unbalancing of the finger loads. For instance, the letter b having a frequency of 160 will exchange places with the letter p having a frequency of 158. and in like manner the letters a and t will exchange places, the desirabilit of such changes being always subject tot e pedagogical considerations hereinbefore set forth.

Having thus described what I consider a scientific distribution of the letters and marks on the keyboard, I now turn to a consideration of the mechanical 4arrangement of the keys, particularly with relation to the shift, shift-lock and back spacer keys. In considering this phase of my invention reference is made t0 the accompanying drawings which partiallyillustrate in plan view a typewriter keyboard having the arrangement of keys 1, both for letters and marks shown in Table X, and having the keys arranged in diagonal rows and further divided into right and left hand banks by the interposition of the shift key 2, shift lock key 3 and the back spacer key 4, these keys forming a diagonal row equal in length with the other diagonal rows of keys and with the shift key approximately two or three times the length of the keys 3 and 4 and interposed preferably between them: where 'it is in most convenient position for manipulation by the fore finger of either hand. This arrangement has several very marked advantages which are; the shift key is brought into a centralposition where it can be operated without the movement of the hand which is required where the key is set as on the present keyboard; the shift key and the back spacer are in like manner brought into a central and convenient position for operation by the fore finger of each hand; the shift lock is brought into alignment with the shift key, and the three keys, 2, 3 and 4, form a very definite division or separation of the righty and left hand banks of' keys, thereby tending to avoid errors and undesirable hand movement resulting from encroachment of one handr on the territory of another; and finally the interposed keys 2, 3 and 4 very definitely accentuate the importance and make necessary the confining of each hand to its appropriate bank of keys with a minimum of hand movement forcomplete performance of the entire duty assigned it.

It is to be understood that the drawing is a conventional showing only, all typewriter details being formally shown.

Havin thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I 1. A typewriter keyboard having the printing keys arranged in parallel diagonal rows from front to back and interposing between the center rows a diagonal row of machine control keys lying in the same level with the other keys and forming a row parallel therewith.

2. A typewriter keyboard in accordance with claim 1, in which the machine control keys form a row spaced on equal centers with the other rows and comprise respectively a shift, shift lock and back set key.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ROY E. HOKE. Witness:

N 0Min WELSH. 

